A Twist Ending
by xxLaurenElizabethxx
Summary: My take on the DH Battle and years after... but Hermione ends up with Harry instead. Prologue is mostly regurg but it will be original content from there!
_Prologue Part 1_

Hermione still couldn't believe that she, Ron, and Harry had not only escaped Gringotts, but they had escaped _on a dragon_ _from Bellatrix Lestrange's vault_.

Her skin still burned, but the dragon's scales felt cool and a little soothing where the multiplied treasures had hurt her. She watched as Diagon Alley turned into a speck below them and the populated city turned into blue-and-green patches below her. She didn't even realize she was shaking with sobs until the tears fell from her face and dripped onto her burned hands.

A while later, Hermione realized that they could no longer see the land and water; now they were flying among the clouds. Although the dragon couldn't see, it seemed to want to feel the cool, moist air that the clouds held and it seemed to be in no big hurry to land. She briefly wondered when it would need food and water, feeling indignant again at its previous living conditions, but was quickly absorbed in thinking about how to help heal her burning skin and what their next plan would be.

The sun began to set and Hermione's belly began to protest in hunger and her throat in thirst. When had they all last eaten? It seemed to be ages before the dragon finally began to descend; she began to look down in search of where it might land and a way for the trio to get off safely.

"I saw we jump when it gets low enough!" Harry's voice came through her thoughts and the chilly air. "Straight into the water before it realizes we're here!"

Hermione made a noise of agreement, words being unable to form from her throat.

"NOW!"

She slid off the dragon and felt herself beginning to fall; hitting the icy water, she managed to kick her way to the surface in time to see the dragon land on a faraway bank. As soon as Ron and Harry came into view, Hermione began to swim to the nearest shore, fighting her way through mud and reeds and managing to collapse onto it, coughing and shaking. As soon as her heartbeat slowed and her mind cleared, she Summoned the dittany and began applying it to herself and Ron where they had been burned.

When Harry approached she and Ron, Hermione handed him the dittany and dug into her beaded bag for a bottle of Pumpkin Juice, taking a long drink before handing it over to Ron.

"Well, on the upside, we got the Horcrux. On the downside – " Ron began after the three of them had had some Pumpkin Juice.

" – no sword," Harry finished for him.

"No sword. That double-crossing little scab…"

Hermione thought about interfering with Ron's language against Griphook, the goblin that had helped them break into Gringotts but had taken Gryffindor's sword and refused to release them, but she refrained; Griphook had screwed them over, and she didn't have the energy to argue.

"At least we can't wear it this time," Ron said, eyeing the Hufflepuff cup, "that'd look a bit weird hanging from our necks."

Hermione didn't hear Ron's last remark; she was busy looking at the dragon across the water.

"What'll happen to it, do you think? Will it be all right?"

"You sound like Hagrid. It's a dragon, Hermione, it can look after itself. It's us we need to worry about," Ron said.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, startled. They were safe at the moment…

"Well, I don't know how to break this to you, but I think they _might_ have noticed we broke into Gringotts."

For some reason, Ron's comment sent the three friends into gales of laughter that seemed as if they would never stop. Hermione's cheeks began to hurt from smiling; it had been so long since there had been a reason to feel real happiness, and soon her sides felt sharp pains from laughing. The pains turned into hiccups as she began to calm down.

"What are we going to do, though?" Hermione finally managed to ask. "He'll know, won't he? You-Know-Who will know we know about his Horcruxes!"

Ron answered. "Maybe they'll be too scared to tell him? Maybe they'll cover up what happened to try and save their own hides."

Hermione was about to agree when she saw Harry falling to the ground, yelling as if he was in pain as he went. All she and Ron could do while Harry lay there was keep watch over him and wait for him to come back; he was probably seeing into Voldemort's mind and there was no telling how long he would be gone. A few moments later, Harry's eyes flew open and he blinked up at his two best friends.

"He knows," Harry said, his voice low. "He knows, and he's going to check where the others are, and the last one is at Hogwarts. I knew it. I _knew_ it." He was on his feet by the time he finished his sentence.

"What?" Hermione said, standing as well. "But what did you see? How do you know?"

"I saw him find out about the cup, I – I was in his head, he's seriously angry, and scared too, he can't understand how we knew, and now he's going to check the others are safe, the ring first. He thinks the Hogwarts one is the safest, because Snape's there, because it'll be so hard not to be seen getting in, I think he'll check that one last, but he could still be there within hours – "

Harry was speaking feverishly and Hermione's heartbeat spiked as she immediately began to worry. Ron spoke first.

"Did you see where in Hogwarts it is?"

"No, he was concentrating on warning Snape, he didn't think about exactly where it is – "

"Wait, _wait_!" Hermione called out. The boys seemed to be getting ready to actually go to Hogwarts right then and there; Ron had grabbed the Horcrux and Harry the Invisibility Cloak. "We can't just _go_ , we haven't got a plan, we need to – "

"We need to get going," Harry said, stopping Hermione midsentence. "Can you imagine what he's going to do once he realizes the ring and the locket are gone? What if he moves the Hogwarts Horcrux, decides it isn't safe enough?"

"But how are we going to get in?"

"We'll go to Hogsmeade and try to work something out once we see what the protection around the school's like. Get under the Cloak, Hermione, I want to stick together this time."

"But we don't really fit – " Hermione knew Harry was right, but saw so many things that could go wrong with what they were about to do.

"It'll be dark, no one's going to notice our feet."

The dragon took off from the far edge of the water as Hermione walked towards Ron and Harry, pulling the Cloak over herself and turning on the spot with the other two, the air crushed from her lungs as they disappeared.

….

Hermione felt Harry's grip relax from her arm before she heard it. It was some god-awful noise, almost like some sort of inhuman scream… it made her heart stop and she immediately realized that something was very wrong.

" _Accio cloak_!" Came a cry she knew to be a Death Eater. The cloak didn't move and she let out a breath she didn't even know she'd been holding. "Not under your wrapper then, Potter? Spread out. He's here."

Immediately, Hermione's heart began beating a staccato rhythm against her ribs. She, Ron, and Harry began to back down the street and were barely missed by the Death Eaters looking for them. All they could do was listen and wait until they had passed; Hermione felt the fight-or-flight reaction and decided to listen to the flight.

"Let's just leave! Disapparate now!" She said, gripping Harry and Ron's arms tightly.

"Good idea," Ron said right as a Death Eater shouted, "We know you're here, Potter, and there's no getting away! We'll find you!"

"They were ready for us. They set up that spell to tell them we'd come. I reckon they've done something to keep us here, trap us – " Harry whispered.

"What about the Dementors?" A Death Eater said. Hermione shivered at the note of glee in his voice. How could anyone like those creatures? "Let 'em have free reign, they'd find him quick enough!"

"The Dark Lord wants Potter dead by no hand but his – " the second Death Eater began.

" – an' dementors won't kill him! The Dark Lord wants Potter's life, not his soul. He'll be easier to kill if he's been Kissed first!"

Hermione's heart began to race. If the Death Eaters sent out dementors, they would be in trouble. Harry's Patronus was very well-known and she and Ron weren't quite as good at the charm as he was, so there was no telling if they'd be able to fend them off, let alone stay hidden while doing so.

"We're going to have to try to Disapparate, Harry!" Hermione's voice came in a rough whisper; she was just barely able to keep her panic at bay. As she spoke, an unnatural chill began to sweep over the street and all the light went out, from the lamps to the stars. She immediately grabbed Harry and Ron's arms and tried to turn on the spot.

Nothing happened.

Immediately, Hermione began to back down the alley the trio were hiding in, still holding on to her best friends' arms. A few heartbeats later, dark figures began to make their way towards the trio. _They must be able to sense our fear_ … she thought, swallowing the lump in her throat and unconsciously gripping her wand. If the dementors didn't retreat soon, they would need to cast Patronuses…

" _Expecto Patronum_!" Came Harry's whisper and Hermione tightened her grip on his arm as the silver stag burst from his wand. A Death Eater she couldn't see let out a yell.

"It's him, down there, down there, I saw his Patronus, it was a stag!"

 _Now what do we do?_ Hermione thought, wracking her brain for a plan as the lights vanished again and the dementors began to make their way back towards the three of them. The lump in her throat was beginning to rise again when a door to her left opened and a rather hoarse voice spoke.

"Potter, in here, quick!"

Harry obeyed immediately, Ron and Hermione following suit.

"Upstairs, keep the Cloak on, be quiet!" The voice commanded. Although the room that they were in was only light by a single candle, Hermione could barely make out some of the details – they were in the Hog's Head! She just had time to see a fireplace below an oil painting of a rather vacant-looking blonde girl before she, Harry, and Ron went over to the grubby window and looked down below, trying to figure out what was going on.

"So what?" The barman was yelling at one of the Death Eaters. "So what? You send dementors down my street, I'll send a Patronus back at 'em! I'm not having 'em near me, I've told you that, I'm not having it!"

"That wasn't your Patronus!" the Death Eater shot back. "That was a stag, it was Potter's!"

"Stag! Stag! You idiot – _Expecto Patronum_!" The barman's wand exploded with light and a large, horned animal ran down the street and disappeared.

"That's not what I saw – " the Death Eater said, but there was doubt in his voice.

"Curfew's been broken, you heard the noise," another Death Eater spat. "Someone was out in the street against regulations – "

"If I want to put my cat out, I will, and be damned to your curfew!"

" _You_ set off the Caterwauling Charm?"

"What if I did? Going to cart me off to Azkaban? Kill me for sticking my nose out my own front door? Do it, then, if you want to! But I hope for your sakes you haven't pressed your little Dark Marks and summoned him. He's not going to like being called here for me and my old cat, is he, now?"

"Don't you worry about us," the second Death Eater said. "Worry about yourself, breaking curfew!"

"And where will you lot traffick potions and poisons when my pub's closed down? What'll happen to your little sidelines then?"

 _So they're bringing in illegal potions and poisons…_ Hermione thought, though she wasn't surprised. She listened in to the conversation again in time to hear the barman defend his Patronus.

"Stag? It's a _goat_ , idiot!"

"All right, we made a mistake," the Death Eater said. "Break curfew again and we won't be so lenient!"

As the Death Eaters turned and walked away, Hermione moaned, pulled the Cloak off of herself, and sank into a rather spindly-looking chair, closing her eyes and trying to slow her heartbeat. She didn't even notice the barman coming back into the room until he spoke.

"You bloody fools. What were you thinking, coming here?"

Harry answered. "Thank you. We can't thank you enough. You saved our lives."

Hermione nodded, her eyes still closed. She should have thought ahead and realized that Voldemort would have warned the Death Eaters and had them be on the lookout for them, especially now that he knew about the Horcruxes. They should have made a plan and thought about how to do this without killing themselves…

"It's your eye I've been seeing in the mirror." It wasn't a question, but a statement. Hermione opened her eyes and looked at Harry. "You sent Dobby."

The barman nodded.

"Thought he'd be with you. Where've you left him?"

Hermione looked at the floor, sadness flooding through her. She still couldn't believe that so many people had been lost to Voldemort and the Death Eaters, and hoped nobody else would suffer before they were able to destroy all the Horcruxes.

"He's dead," Harry said. "Bellatrix Lestrange killed him."

"I'm sorry to hear it. I liked that elf."

The barman turned around and began to light candles with his wand.

"You're Aberforth," Harry said; the man didn't confirm or deny it, but continued to light the candles and then the fireplace. "How did you get this?"

Hermione assumed Harry was speaking about the piece of mirror. She glanced at Ron, who was looking between the two men in front of them intently, and a smile pulled the corners of her mouth up for a second.

"Bought it from Dung 'bout a year ago," Aberforth grunted in response. His back was still turned to Hermione, Ron, and Harry. "Albus told me what it was. Been trying to keep an eye out for you."

"The silver doe!" Ron said excitedly. "Was that you too?"

 _Ron, he_ just _said his Patronus was a goat,_ Hermione thought, but Aberforth spoke before she could.

"What are you talking about?"

"Someone sent a doe Patronus to us!"

"Brains like that, you could be a Death Eater, son," Aberforth had turned to face the trio and Hermione bit her lip to keep from chuckling. "Haven't I just proved my Patronus is a goat?"

"Oh. Yeah… well, I'm hungry!" Ron said defensively. Hermione's stomach rumbled as he spoke and she was glad he did; she hadn't realized that they hadn't stopped since preparing to go to Gringotts earlier, and now that seemed to be ages ago. How could so much time have passed already, and how on Earth would they be able to get into Hogwarts and destroy all the Horcruxes?

"I got food," Aberforth said, disappearing into a different room and re-appearing a moment later with a loaf of bread, some cheese, and a large jug of mead. Hermione's mouth began to water immediately and she reached out for some bread. For a while, there was nothing but the sound of drinking and chewing as the three finally satiated their stomachs.

"Right then," Aberforth said finally, after the chewing and gulping had subsided. "We need to think of the best way to get you out of there. Can't be done by night, you heard wat happens if anyone moves outdoors during darkness: Caterwauling Charm's set off, they'll be onto you like Bowtruckles on doxy eggs. I don't reckon I'll be able to pass off a stag as a goat a second time. Wait for daybreak when curfew lifts, ten you can put your Cloak back on and set out on foot. Get right out of Hogsmeade, up into the mountains, and you'll be able to Disapparate there. Might see Hagrid. He's been hiding in a cave up there with Grawp ever since they tried to arrest him."

"We're not leaving. We need to get into Hogwarts."

Hermione stopped chewing and stared at Harry. Did he have a plan? Getting into Hogwarts undetected seemed an insurmountable task even without the castle crawling with Death Eaters and Snape. Not to mention Voldemort was on the lookout for them now as well.

"Don't be stupid, boy," Aberforth said dismissively.

"We've got to," Harry said.

"What you've got to do is to get as far from here as you can."

Harry didn't look convinced; Hermione stole a glance at Ron, who was watching him and Aberforth go back and forth.

"You don't understand. There isn't much time. We've got to get into the castle. Dumbledore – I mean, your brother – wanted us –

Aberforth's expression hardened and Hermione swallowed, anxious to see how he would respond.

"My brother Albus wanted a lot of things, and people had a habit of getting hurt while he was carrying out his grand plans. You get away from this school, Potter, and out of the country if you can. Forget my brother and his clever schemes. He's gone where none of this can hurt him, and you don't owe him anything."

"You don't understand," Harry said.

Hermione agreed. While she understood (and part of her actually agreed) why Aberforth told them to leave and save themselves, but she knew Harry would have to destroy Voldemort, and that was the most important thing that could be done. She wondered whether Harry would divulge their mission now that it was so close to completed.

"Oh, don't I?" Aberforth's voice was very quiet now. "You don't think I understood my own brother? Think you knew Albus better than I did?"

"I didn't mean that. It's… he left me a job."

"Did he now? Nice job, I hope? Pleasant? Easy? Sort of thing you'd expect an unqualified wizard kid to be able to do without overstretching themselves?"

Ron laughed, and Hermione looked at him. She couldn't believe what was going on, but she knew time was running out if the three of them were going to try to get into Hogwarts. Before she could bring this up, however, Harry spoke.

"I-it's not easy, no, but I've got to - "

"'Got to'? Why ' _got to_ '? He's dead, isn't he? Let it go, boy, before you follow him! Save yourself!"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

Hermione and Ron were both following the two arguing men, shaking their heads from side to side as each one spoke. _Is Harry going to tell him what we're doing…?_

"I - " Harry began, then seemed to change course. "But you're fighting too, you're in the Order of the Phoneix - "

"I was. The Order of the Phoenix is finished. You-Know-Who's won, it's over, and anyone who's pretending different's kidding themselves. It'll never be safe for you here, Potter, he wants you too badly. So go abroad, go into hiding, save yourself. Best take these two with you. They'll be in danger long as they live now everyone knows they've been working with you."

Hermione's heart sank as Aberforth spoke. She couldn't see the point in giving up and turning back now; all three of them had promised to see this through to the end, and because she knew Harry needed them, she would stay by his side. Stealing a glance at Ron, she hoped he would stay as well. He had come back to them, which spoke volumes, but it was still a lot of stress on all three of them, and she and Ron had stayed up for many late nights just talking and worrying about Harry especially. Neither of them could imagine what he felt like, knowing everything he did…

"I can't leave. I've got a job - "

"Give it to someone else!"

"I can't. It's got to be me. Dumbledore explained it all - "

"Oh, did he now? And did he tell you everything, was he honest with you?"

It was immediately obvious that Aberforth had hit a nerve. Harry had expressed his hurt at Dumbledore's secrecy both in words and in his body language many times throughout the last year, and something told Hermione that Aberforth understood Dumbledore and how he had treated Harry more than they had initially thought. Hermione looked around the room they were in; apart from the large painting of the innocent-looking blonde girl, there were no pictures. No evidence that Aberforth had had any family, let alone such a famous brother.

"I knew my brother, Potter. He learned secrecy at our mother's knee. Secrets and lies, that's how we grew up, Albus… he was a natural."

Aberforth looked at the portrait that Hermione had just noticed, and something clicked in her mind.

"Mr. Dumbledore? Is that your sister? Ariana?" Her voice was soft and rather trembly, even to her own ears.

"Yes. Been reading Rita Skeeter, have you, missy?"

Hermione felt the heat rising in her face. He was right, but she hadn't believed everything that Skeeter had written… there was too much experience between Skeeter and she, Harry, and Ron for her latest book to be completely believable.

"Elphias Dodge mentioned her to us," Harry said. Hermione was grateful that he'd spoken up and offered him a weak smile, but he didn't notice.

"That old berk," Aberforth muttered. "Thought the sun shone out of my brother's every orifice, he did. Well, so did plenty of people, you three included, by the looks of it."

There was a long silence after Aberforth said this; Hermione thought Harry was going to say something, but got the feeling that he didn't want to speak his doubts about Dumbledore into existence. Not that she could blame him for that. Finally, she found herself speaking.

"Professor Dumbledore cared about Harry very, very much."

"Did he now?" Aberforth now turned back to Hermione, seeming to stare right through her. She couldn't help but notice how alike his and Dumbledore's gazes were. "Funny thing, how many of the people my brother cared about very much ended up in a worse state than if he'd left 'em well alone."

"What do you mean?" Hermione had stopped breathing; what on earth did Aberforth mean, and to whom was he referring? That was a very serious accusation…

"Never you mind."

"But that's a really serious thing to say! Are you – are you talking about your sister?"

Hermione felt herself shrink a little under the glare she was receiving from Aberforth. After a moment, words seemed to just start tumbling out of his mouth.

"When my sister was six years old, she was attacked, set upon, by three Muggle boys. They'd seen her doing magic, spying through the back garden hedge. She was a kid, she couldn't control it, no witch or wizard can at that age. What they saw scared them, I expect. They forced their way through the hedge, and when she couldn't show them the trick, they got a bit carried away trying to stop the little freak doing it."

As Aberforth told the story, Hermione's stomach rolled and she was horrified. She felt a bit sick as he continued:

"It destroyed her, what they did: she was never right again. She wouldn't use magic, but she couldn't get rid of it; it turned inward and drove her mad, it exploded out of her when she couldn't control it, and at times she was strange and dangerous. But mostly she was sweet and scared and harmless. And my father went after the bastards that did it, and attacked them. And they locked him up in Azkaban for it. He never said why'd he done it, because if the Ministry had known what Ariana had become, she'd have been locked up in St. Mungo's for good. They'd have seen her as a serious threat to the International Statute of Secrecy, unbalanced like she was, with magic exploding out of her at moments when she couldn't keep it in any longer. We had to keep her safe and quiet. We moved house, put it about she was ill, and my mother looked after her, and tried to keep her calm and happy. _I_ was her favorite… not Albus, he was always up in his bedroom when he was home, reading his books and counting his prizes, keeping up with his correspondence with 'the most notable magical names of the day.'"

Aberforth took a deep breath, a smile on his face. He looked years younger as he reminisced of his younger sister. Then he began to speak again.

" _He_ didn't want to be bothered with her. She liked me best. I could get her to eat when she wouldn't do it for my mother, I could get her to calm down when she was in one of her rages, and when she was quiet, she used to help me feed the goats. Then, when she was fourteen… see, I wasn't there. If I'd been there, I could have calmed her down. She had one of her rages, and my mother wasn't as young as she was, and… it was an accident. Ariana couldn't control it. But my mother was killed."

Hermione's stomach gave a lurch, but Aberforth continued. It sounded very much like he hadn't spoken of this in decades.

"So that put paid to Albus's trip round the world with little Doge. The pair of 'em came home for my mother's funeral and then Doge went off on his own, and Albus settled down as head of the family. Ha! I'd have stayed home and done it. I'd have looked after her, I told him so, I didn't care about school, I'd have stayed home and done it. He told me I had to finish my education and _he'd_ take over from my mother. Bit of a comedown for Mr. Brilliant, there's no prizes for looking after your half-mad sister, stopping her blowing up the house every other day. But he did all right for a few weeks… till he came."

As Aberforth's face took on a rather menacing look, Hermione took a guess as to who "he" was. She was right.

"Grindlewald. And at last, my brother had an _equal_ to talk to, someone just as bright and talented as _he_ was. And looking after Ariana took a backseat then, while they were hatching all their plans for a new Wizarding order, and looking for _Hallows_ , and watever else it was they were so interested in. Grand plans for the benefit of all Wizardkind, and if one young girl got neglected, what did that matter, when Albus was working for _the greater good_? But after a few weeks of it, I'd had enough, I had. It was nearly time for me to go back to Hogwarts, so I told 'em, both of 'em, face-to-face, like I am to you, now. I told him, you'd better give it up now. You can't move her, she's in no fit state, you can't take her with you, wherever it is you're planning to go, when you're making your clever speeches, trying to whip yourselves up a following. He didn't like that; Grindlewald didn't like that at all. He got angry. He told me what a stupid little boy I was, trying to stand in the way of him and my brilliant brother… didn't I _understand_ , my poor sister wouldn't _have_ to be hidden once they'd changed the world, and let the wizards out of hiding, and taught the Muggles their place? And there was an argument… and I pulled out my wand, and he pulled out his, and I had the Cruciatus Curse used on me by my brother's best friend – and Albus was trying to stop him, and then all three of us were dueling, and the flashing lights and the bangs set her off, she couldn't stand it - "

It seemed that Aberforth needed to swallow a rather large lump before he continued.

" – and I think she wanted to help, but she didn't really know what she was doing, and I don't know which one of us did it, it could have been any of us – and she was dead."

Silence rang out once more among the four people crammed into the small room. None of them dared to speak for several minutes.

"I'm so… I'm so sorry." Hermione's voice came out as a whisper.

"Gone. Gone forever. 'Course, Grindlewald scarpered. He had a bit of a track record already, back in his own country, and he didn't want Ariaa set to his account too. And Albus was free, wasn't he? Free of the burden of his sister, free to become the greatest wizard of the - "

"He was never free," Harry said, interrupting Aberforth and causing both Hermione and Ron to look at him in surprise.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Never. The night that your brother died, he drank a potion that drove him out of his mind. He started screaming, pleading with someone who wasn't there. 'Don't hurt them, please… hurt me instead.'"

Hermione felt her mouth open, but couldn't help it. Harry had never even told them about what had happened on the island that Dumbledore had taken him to; the fact that Snape had murdered Dumbledore had been a distraction from what Harry had done beforehand.

"He thought he was back there with you and Grindlewald, I know he did. He thought he was watching Grindlewald hurting you and Ariana… it was torture to him, if you'd seen him then, you wouldn't say he was free."

Aberforth looked like he didn't know how to reply and was quiet for a long time before finally finding his words.

"How can you be sure, Potter, that my brother wasn't more interested in the greater good than in you? How can you be sure you aren't disposable, just like my little sister?"

Hermione couldn't believe Aberforth would say such a thing; while Dumbledore had certainly had flaws, it had been obvious that he cared deeply for Harry and had spent all these years protecting him as best he could.

"I don't believe it," Hermione's voice sounded detached, even to herself. "Dumbledore loved Harry."

"Why didn't he tell him to hide, then?" Aberforth asked sharply. "Why didn't he say to him, 'Take care of yourself, here's how to survive'?"

Hermione opened her mouth to answer, but Harry spoke up first.

"Because sometimes you've _got_ to think about more than your own safety! Sometimes you've _got_ to think about the greater good! This is war!"

"You're seventeen, boy!"

"I'm of age, and I'm going to keep fighting even if you've given up!"

"Who says I've given up?"

"'The Oder of the Phoenix is finished,'" Harry quoted. Hermione and Ron were once again going back and forth between him and Aberforth as they argued. "'You-Know-Who's won, it's over, and anyone who's pretending different's kidding themselves.'"

"I don't say I like it, but it's the truth!"

"No, it isn't. Your brother knew how to finish You-Know-Who and he passed the knowledge on to me. I'm going to keep going until I succeed – or I die. Don't think I don't know how this might end. I've known it for years."

Aberforth said nothing and Hermione bit her lip and looked at Ron. He looked just as upset at the thought of losing Harry as she felt.

"We need to get into Hogwarts. If you can't help us, we'll wait till daybreak, leave you in peace, and try to find a way in ourselves. If you _can_ help us – well, now would be a great time to mention it."

Hermione didn't realize she was holding her breath until her lungs began to hurt. After a tense moment, Aberforth stood and walked over to the portrait of Ariana.

"You know what to do" was all he said. She smiled and turned, seeming to walk down the tunnel painted behind her.

"Er – what - " Ron said, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. Hermione smiled a little; she knew that face quite well.

"There's only one way in now," Aberforth answered. "You must know they've got all the old secret passageways covered at both ends, dementors all around the boundary walls, regular patrols inside the school from what my sources tell me. The place has never been so heavily guarded. How you expect to do anything once you get inside it, with Snape in charge and the Carrows as his deputies… well, that's your lookout, isn't it? You say you're prepared to die."

"But what…" Hermione began, but movement from Ariana's portrait caught her eye. The small blonde girl was walking back towards them, but it looked like there was somebody else with her. The other person was limping and as he grew bigger and became more defined, there were cuts and scrapes all over him and his robes were rather torn. Suddenly, the portrait swung forward and the man climbed out – it was Neville Longbottom, looking hurt and tired, but the glint in his eyes showed that he had not given up yet.

"I knew you'd come! _I knew it, Harry_!"

 _Author's Note_ : I began from this space so there would be a bit more background and so I could help slip into character better for the remainder of the story. Parts 1 and 2 of the prologue will be a lot of regurg and from-the-book things from Hermione's perspective, but after the Battle, I will be freelancing and it will be my own work with J.K.'s characters. Enjoy!


End file.
